We're in Queensferry, First time buyers purchasing with a mortgage (lender is Santander , and our solicitor is on the Santander conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?

The fact that your lawyer is on the Santander conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancer should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.

My relative advised me that if I am buying in Queensferry I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Queensferry conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Queensferry around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Queensferry Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Queensferry.

I'm buying a new build house in Queensferry with a loan from The Royal Bank of Scotland. The developers would not move on the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The house builders rep told me not to tell my solicitor about this deal as it will jeopardize my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on two weeks back in what was supposed to be a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Queensferry is where the house is located. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Queensferry are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Queensferry you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Queensferry may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Queensferry what are the most frequent lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Queensferry. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party. Insurance obligations

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Halifax, Leeds Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

I purchased a basement flat in Queensferry, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Queensferry with over 90 years remaining are worth £186,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2078

You have 52 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £29,500 and £34,000 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.